Bloodbath
by ObsydianDreamer
Summary: Stories are told about the victors of the Hunger Games. This is not one of those stories. - Oneshot


Cleo Larkham was fifteen years old when she was reaped as District Five's female tribute.

When they called her name, Cleo wasn't quick to respond. She just stood there, stunned, while the other girls around her shuffled out of the way, relieved that they had been spared another year. Taking a deep breath, she trudged towards the podium, feeling sick and dizzy from fear. She must have been taking too long, because two grey-uniformed peacekeepers came to escort her the rest of the way. Filled with dread, Cleo climbed the stairs up to the stage, and waited as their capitol escort, Persephone Bluefire, asked if there were any volunteers.

Nobody came forward.

Next, after the reaping had finished, she was taken into the justice building, which was probably the most luxurious place Cleo had ever been. The floor was covered in soft grey carpet, and the walls were painted in a ruby red. Cleo was ushered into a waiting room, and told to wait there by a peacekeeper while they checked any visitors who had come to see her.

"You have one hour." The peacekeeper said before leaving.

First in was Cleo's family. Her mother, father, older sister and younger brother all solemnly filed in. Her mother sat next to her and pulled Cleo into a tight embrace. There was silence, apart from the shaking sobs coming from her younger brother.

"You'll come home, won't you?" he asked in between sobs, breaking the silence.

Cleo didn't answer straight away. She had no idea what to say; twenty four go in, and one comes out. And being a small girl from a poor district such as five meant that the odds were never going to be in her favour.

"Yes." She said shakily. "Of course I will."

Silence again filled the room.

After what seemed like a few minutes, the peacekeeper re-entered, and said there hour was up. The hour had ended way too quickly, and before Cleo could say anything else, she was being lead out of the waiting room, and toward the capitol train. It was metallic silver and sleek, and seemed out of place in a district so dusty and dirty. There were photographers and cameras everywhere, trying to get the best snapshot of the two newest contestants for the games. The roaring sound was unbearable, and Cleo just wanted to run away and hide some place quiet.

0o0o0o0

On the train, Cleo got a closer look at Persephone. Persephone was a tall woman, with electric blue hair that clashed with her green dress, and swirling tattoo's that covered most of her face. She had an air of coldness around her, and didn't seem to want to have anything to do with the tributes.

Cleo retired to her room on the train. She sat on her bed, not moving for a while, before opening her window to get a look at the scenery. All around was deep forest, and the sky was cloudless, and to Cleo's surprise, blue. In District Five, the sky was never blue, just full of thick, black smog that made you cough if you breathed too much of it in. She continued to look on in amazement, until Persephone called out that lunch was being served and that they should change and come. Cleo looked through her wardrobe, which was full of expensive clothes of every colour and design, and settled on a simple blue (which Cleo decided was her new favourite colour) dress that was her size. She tied back her knotted blonde hair back and went to the dining hall.

During lunch, which was filled with all kinds of delicious food she wouldn't get to have back in Five, she and her district Partner, a lanky, mouse-haired boy named Tobias, discussed survival tactics with their mentor. Despite their mentor's attempts to be positive, both Tobias and Cleo know they'll probably go home in wooden boxes.

An hour later, the train arrived in The Capitol. Cleo and Tobias were glued to the windows as they looked out at the dazzling city. Colossal buildings reached for the sky, with huge banners between them, saying things like "Happy Hunger Games" or "May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favour". The whole city looked clean, and perfect, with the sun's reflection making it look like the city itself was glowing.

When the train pulled into the station, there were cameras waiting for them. Hundreds of Capitol citizens were also there, trying to get a glimpse at the newest tributes. Cleo looked at the capitol citizens with curiosity; there idea of fashion was extremely odd. It was all bright colours and impractical clothing that would have been painful to wear. It also seemed fashionable to alter the body itself. Some of the citizens had skin that was pink or green, or had the face altered to resemble an animal. Cleo could have sworn she saw a woman will translucent wings sticking out of her back.

0o0o0o0

Cleo and Tobias were quickly rushed off to their stylists to get ready for the opening ceremony. Unfortunately for them, the District Five stylists weren't particularly creative, and they were dressed as power poles. At the ceremony itself, they were easily overshadowed by District Two, who had their tributes dressed as gods, with flowing capes and armour suits that made them look formidable. Cleo was disappointed when she returned to the building where they were staying, but her mentor told her not to worry, since they still had the interviews.

The next morning was training.

During her three day training course, Cleo tried to learn to use the weapons, but to limited success. Even the instructor told her to quit. So, she instead turned to skills, where she learned to make a fire, tell what berries were poisonous and which not, and how to treat minor wounds and injures. Although she didn't think she'd survive three days, she thought this might help.

While at the training centre, she also got to have a closer look at the other tributes. The boy from District Two was huge, strong and looked terrifying. The girl from Four was unbeatable with a trident. The Male from Seven, a muscled boy of eighteen, was hitting the target with his spear every time. The girl from Twelve was quiet, but friendly.

Her individual session with the gamemakers, didn't go to well. She showed them the survival skills she'd learnt, but they only seemed interested in tributes that could fight. When the results were released later that night, she scored a four.

The next morning, Cleo was woken early to get ready for the interviews. She was styled, and put into her dress. The dress, which was an improvement on the costumes for the opening ceremony, was bright yellow, and made of a soft satin material that made Cleo feel like she was wearing a cloud.

The interviews themselves weren't very long. Her name was called, and she stepped on stage, taking small steps to avoid falling over in her shoes. Cleo tried to remain calm as she looked out to the crowd, which had thousands of people in it. She glanced over to Flickerman, who this year was wearing an emerald green suit and had dyed his hair to match. He seemed nice enough; he laughed at her jokes, and made her seem smarter than she was. At the end of the interview, he asked her one last question.

"Cleo, one last thing, how do you plan to win the Hunger Games?"

"Well, I'm smart. The others shouldn't underestimate me." She replied, just like she'd rehearsed.

"Great to Hear! Everyone put your hands together for Cleo Larkham, District Five Tribute!"

She felt better after the interview. Maybe she did have a chance after all.

The day after the interviews was the last day before the Games. They spend it revising survival strategies and ideas. That night, Persephone told them to go to bed early and get a good night's sleep, since tomorrow was the big day.

Cleo didn't sleep that night.

0o0o0o0

The hovercraft flight to the arena was quiet. A few of the careers were talking to each other, but even they went quiet when the hovercraft began its descent. She was taken to her launch room, and dressed into her arena uniform. It had a white shirt, with brown cargo pants and boots. Lastly, she puts on her jacket, with is black, and rather heavy. Her stylist looks at Cleo for a moment, before talking.

"I thought about the uniform. Expect extreme heat or cold. Possibly both."

Cleo nodded, unable to speak. It was actually happening. Any minute now, she'd be put in the arena and forced to fight to the death.

"_Two Minutes until launch._" A mechanical voice booms out. "_Please get onto the Launch platforms_."

Cleo started shaking. Her stylist helped lead her over to the launch tube. She stepped onto the platform, and felt herself being lifted up instantly. The platform raised her up, higher and higher, until she could see a bright light.

The first thing Cleo saw and felt was the blinding light and the heat. It was too bright too see even her hands in front of her and the intense heat was already burning her pale skin. She struggled to adjust her eyes, before the gong went.

She'd stopped moving upwards, and could see the arena now. There was white sand all around, which seemed to continue on forever in every direction. However, to the south, she could see a series of mountains, with greenery surrounding the base. If she could survive anywhere in this environment, it was going to be there.

Cleo turned to the Cornucopia. It was huge, easily 20 feet across, and was made of a silvery metal that shone brightly in the beaming sun. Surrounding it were tools, weapons and food, everything a tribute would need to survive in the arena. On the outside were lesser prizes; empty containers, plastic sheets and wire. Right in the centre was a bundle of golden spears, obviously intended for the male tribute from Seven.

She scanned the items around the middle. She wanted something valuable, but also wanted to get away quickly. About 30 feet away from her was a backpack, filled with something, and a short distance away from that was a filled water bottle. Cleo was convinced that both these items would be crucial to her survival. After all, how long would it be until she could find water?

That became Cleo's plan. Grab the backpack, the water and head for the mountains. Once she was there, she could hide it out and wait. Standing on her disk, she put one leg in front of the other, ready to run. She steadied herself, and waited.

The gong sounded.

With all the speed she could master, Cleo shot forward, toward the backpack and water bottle. There was utter chaos as everyone ran towards what they wanted; by now, the careers had reached the weapons, and now people were being slaughtered. Cleo watched in horror as the female tribute from District Twelve came face to face with one of the careers and was stabbed in the neck, before being left to bleed out.

But Cleo couldn't let that distract her. Dodging a throwing knife that whizzed through the air towards her, she reached the backpack. She slung it over her shoulders, and went for the water. However, before she reached it, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye.

Too late Cleo noticed the hulking male tribute from District Two coming toward her. With a powerful swing of his blade, he sliced deep into thigh. Cleo screamed in agony, and used all the energy she could muster to try and crawl away. It was futile though, the sand providing little grip as she tried to flee. The Career tribute just laughed, lined up his sword, and brought it down on the back of her neck.

Cleo Larkham was fifteen when she died, just seventeen seconds into the Sixty-Third Hunger Games.

**A/N: Hey everyone!**

**First of all, I'd like to say thanks for reading **_**Bloodbath**_**. I wrote this after I had a discussion with one of my friends about how you never hear the stories of the other tributes that die in HG. It seemed interesting, so I ran with it.**

**This is one of my first fanfics, so **_**please review;**_** it helps me get better at writing.**

**Thank you to Baylee Shadow for beta reading.**


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